


Science Fail

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: smallfandomfest, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 09:51:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1131211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Science Fair, Jack has to choose, and he hopes he isn't being foolish when he makes that choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Science Fail

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **SmallFandomFest FEST14** for the prompt: Science Fail  
>  and **trope_bingo** Round Three: Mind Games

When he realized ' _The Heathers_ ' had lost control of their experiment at the Science Fail, _FAIR_ , he thought, _Science FAIR_ , Jack was the only one to spring into action - as usual. He knew that somewhere among the mass of wiring was a power plug, and all he had to do was rip the damn thing out and the machine would stop, and all the problems with the space junk would also disappear. Sure enough, as the plug detached, the machine began to power down and Jack smiled at another disaster diverted in this bug nuts town. 

The sense of triumph and relief had obviously fried his brain because he aimed that grin at Stark, unconsciously seeking his approval, only for Stark to raise an eyebrow and point up nonchalantly.

Up at what?

And then it struck him. Literally struck him. All the bits of metal that had been pulled into the air above the machine came crashing down around his ears, and once again his heroic moment was overshadowed as he looked the village idiot. To top it off, ' _The Heathers_ ' had to go accuse him of breaking their damn experiment once he realized it wasn't the cause of the even bigger problem they had in the town. Smarting, he smiled tensely, but he could live with that... until Zoe took the blame.

She was so grounded... again.

As Stark turned away in amusement, Jack was left feeling ridiculed once more, and Zoe along with him. He was seriously starting to wonder if he should have turned down the damn promotion and stayed with the U.S. Marshals. At least they had appreciated his skills and he knew exactly what he was up against every time he started a new assignment. In this town he couldn't even trust a candy bar to be exactly what it looked like.

Around him even the kids were sniggering, and as he walked through the hall filled with all the weird and crazy experiments, he overhead more than one adult or child mention one-eleven. Even Stark had dropped that into the conversation at the gym earlier with a smirk, and that really should have been his first clue. On a hunch, he pulled out his PDA having learned that it could connect him to his computer at the office. He went onto the search engine and typed in _IQ 111_.

Bright normal intelligence. Average. Whereas most of the kids at the Tesla Science Fail were scoring 140 plus.

"Fair!" he berated himself angrily. "Science _Fair_."

He blamed Jo for putting _that_ into his head. Armageddon with acne, she had called it. Jack rubbed his forehead and mentally pushed the ridicule to the back of his mind. He had a job to do so he gathered his tattered pride around him and stalked back to where Stark and Allison were talking to Megan.

Maybe it was the way the machine was sitting on the table but he had a sudden image of something far bigger, on the roof of Global.

Later, with the pretty light show of bits of space toilet and tools and other debris burning up in the atmosphere above their heads, Jack admitted to Zoe that he knew what I.Q. 111 meant, and no matter what her I.Q. score, he wouldn't love her any less. When she told him hers was 112, he was genuinely pleased that she had a higher score than him; not that it mattered anyway. She was bright enough to show Meg and the others how to increase the power so they could save the town, and she'd taken second prize at the Science Fail. Not bad at all for a bright, normal kid compared to genius-level ones like _The Heathers_.

"Zoe? Why did Jo keep calling them _The Heathers_?"

"High school movie. Three girls all called Heather who thought they were better than everyone else. It's a sarcastic..." He looked at her blankly. "It doesn't matter, dad."

"Like me calling you Sheriff Andy," came Stark's deep voice right above him. "Though the bumbling Deputy Barney-."

"Yeah, I get it, Stark." And he did... now.

"Hey! There's Pillar! I'll make my own way home, dad."

Zoe was gone before Jack could open his mouth and he sighed heavily instead, frowning when Stark sank down onto the bench next to him. He sighed again, softer this time.

"What do you want, Stark?"

"I want a lot of things, Sheriff. You may need to be more specific."

"What do you want right now?"

"You to stop pursuing Allison."

Jack turned and looked at him angrily, faces only inches apart. "Not your call."

"What if I make it my call?"

Jack started to scoff, freezing in shock when Stark leaned in and kissed him square on the mouth before pulling back. It had happened so quickly that Jack wasn't sure it had happened at all... if not for the way his lips were tingling.

"You did not... You just... You...," he spluttered.

"Coherent as always."

"You can't just go around kissing... people." He narrowed his eyes. "I could have you arrested for assaulting an officer of the law."

"And say what? That I kissed you?" The smirk grew wilder. "Like this?"

He leaned in again and Jack felt the firm yet soft lips on his, and the tickling of Stark's beard on his own clean-shaven face. It had been a long time since he'd felt another man's kiss and it sent an uncontrollable spark of pleasure racing through him. Stark pulled back again, insolent mouth curled up into an even bigger smirk, and eyes dancing with mirth.

Embarrassed by his own reaction, Jack whipped his head round but no one was paying them any attention. "You can't just... in a public place."

"Can't? I think I just did, Jack. And I didn't notice you making any attempt to stop me. In fact-."

"I was stunned," he exclaimed only to be kissed again, but this time he caught himself trying to chase Stark's lips when the kiss ended. Jack admitted defeat and pulled back, looking away. "What do you want from me, Nathan?" he asked softly.

"Already told you. I want you to stop pursuing Allison... and pursue me instead." Jack looked back in shock as Nathan stood up, shivering when Nathan leaned down and whispered against his ear. "Might even let you catch me."

He grinned at Jack before heading away into the darkness of the night, tilting his head in a small ' _follow me_ ' gesture.

Jack knew he was at an important fork in the road where his life was concerned. He had a choice of either sitting here and continuing with his pursuit of the beautiful but so-far-out-of-his-league Allison Blake, or follow Nathan to see where that road led. He sat there for a moment longer, staring as the darkness swallowed Nathan, and made his decision.

He jumped up and moved swiftly after him, feeling an ache in his chest when he couldn't see Nathan ahead of him. Maybe this was what Nathan had always intended, for Jack to prove that he wasn't as much in love with Allison as he thought; that it was just a crush, and now Jack was off the playing field, Nathan could win her back more easily. Feeling 111 times a fool, Jack shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket and turned back, only to come up short when he found Nathan standing right in front of him. He waited for the ridicule and gloating to begin as Nathan stepped towards him, growing confused when Nathan remained silent. Warm hands cupped his face, casually tilting it just right as Nathan moved in and kissed him again.

This time Nathan didn't pull back, and Jack felt Nathan's lips curling into a smile as Jack finally began to kiss him back. By the time they ended the kiss, Nathan looked just as wrecked as Jack felt.

Overhead, a particularly bright piece of space junk burned through the atmosphere, and though technically it wasn't a shooting star but the result of another science fail in Eureka, Jack made a small wish.

"Guess you caught me, Sheriff," Nathan murmured hoarsely, and Jack's wish came true.

END  
.


End file.
